Estudio sobre la salud bucodental en niños hospitalizados

Abstract

Introduction: Dental caries has a high prevalence in Spanish preschoolers. Admission for acute pathology can be a good time to reinforce education in this regard. Our goal is to analyze the knowledge and oral health of children with acute pathology and strengthen education for dental health. Subjects and methods: Before/after quasi-experimental study with pediatric patients of our center with acute pathology. A survey of oral health knowledge was conducted and an exhaustive oral examination was carried out. Finally, there was a theoretical and practical reinforcement on dental health and a survey to evaluate the knowledge learned. Results: During the year of study, 71 patients (42.2% girls) between 2 and 15 years old (average: 7.9 years) were included. The reason for admission was respiratory pathology (29.6%), gastrointestinal (18.3%), neurological (15.5%), otorhinolaryngological (14.1%), traumatological (11.3%) and infectious (7%). 31% brushed teeth once a day or less. Only in 19.7% of cases the brushing was done by the parents. 71.8% were unaware of the fluoride content of their toothpaste. Brushing lasted less than 2 minutes at 63.4%. 76.1% did not make semiannual visits to the dentist. 52.1% had some type of oral pathology (30.6% caries, 30.6% bacterial plaque, 21% malocclusion and 11.3% fluorosis). Conclusions: The lack of knowledge about oral preventive measures is significant in the population studied. Educational intervention during a hospital admission is effective in improving oral health education